Also known as “madness,” “insanity,” or “lunacy” First actual description in literature of schizophrenia was in 1656 when Georg Trosse, a minister in England, wrote about his own mental breakdown. Emil Kraepelin, a psychiatrist in the late 1800s, observed the disorder and concluded that it was a kind of premature mental distoration. He called it dementia praecox. Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist in the early 1900s, also studied the disorder. He combined two Greek words schizin meaning “split” and –phren meaning “mind” and came up with the term schizophrenia. Many believed it was referring to split personality, which it wasn’t. He identified 4 main features of schizophrenia, also known as the 4 A’s: 1) Disturbances of affect (emotion) 2) Ambivalent (simultaneous conflicting) feelings and attitudes 3)Irrational mental associations 4) Autism, or self-absorbed withdrawal
What they did in the past (19th century)
straight jacket
a lunatic’s chariot (schizophrenic patients are chained together, pulling the chariot)
the crib
suspensory technique (suspended people in the air)
NO LONGER 19th CENTURY
-Bore holes in their heads to release evil spirits
-Chained to a wall (to control behavior)
-Confined to mental hospitals (did nothing)
-Electroconvulsive therapy (low-voltage electric current is passed through the brain; shock produces convulsions in the patient. Patient is first put to sleep w/anesthetic; sometimes gives relief from symptoms of mental illness) [PRETTY MUCH NONEFFECTIVE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA]
-Psychosurgery (disconnects several sections of the brain trying to get rid of hallucinations) [frontal lobotomy]
History of Schizophrenia
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Also known as “madness,” “insanity,” or “lunacy”
First actual description in literature of schizophrenia was in 1656 when Georg Trosse, a minister in England, wrote about his own mental breakdown.
Emil Kraepelin, a psychiatrist in the late 1800s, observed the disorder and concluded that it was a kind of premature mental distoration. He called it dementia praecox.
Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist in the early 1900s, also studied the disorder. He combined two Greek words schizin meaning “split” and –phren meaning “mind” and came up with the term schizophrenia. Many believed it was referring to split personality, which it wasn’t.
He identified 4 main features of schizophrenia, also known as the 4 A’s:
1) Disturbances of affect (emotion)
2) Ambivalent (simultaneous conflicting) feelings and attitudes
3) Irrational mental associations
4) Autism, or self-absorbed withdrawal
What they did in the past (19th century)
- straight jacket
- a lunatic’s chariot (schizophrenic patients are chained together, pulling the chariot)
- the crib
- suspensory technique (suspended people in the air)
NO LONGER 19th CENTURY-Bore holes in their heads to release evil spirits
-Chained to a wall (to control behavior)
-Confined to mental hospitals (did nothing)
-Electroconvulsive therapy (low-voltage electric current is passed through the brain; shock produces convulsions in the patient. Patient is first put to sleep w/anesthetic; sometimes gives relief from symptoms of mental illness) [PRETTY MUCH NONEFFECTIVE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA]
-Psychosurgery (disconnects several sections of the brain trying to get rid of hallucinations) [frontal lobotomy]
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Theories of Schizophrenia